Heart of the Apocalypse
by TheTwilightMoon
Summary: EllisxOC. Something I've wanted to write for a while, because I am a huge Ellis fangirl xD. After she is forced to flee an infected Savannah, Natalie meets four more survivors, and she reluctantly joins them. Rated T for now. Enjoy!
1. I hate Zombies

Heart of the Apocalypse

Chapter One

Three words: I. Hate. Zombies.

I mean really, they're bad enough in video games, all trying to eat your brains and your babies and such. Now, try dealing with them in real life. _That_ my friends, is why I hate them. It's not like they're hard to kill or anything, the common ones anyway; just one headshot and BOOM! Done like dinner. There are just a lot of them around, which is really annoying. However, it's the special infected that prove to be _much_ more of a challenge. They don't fucking die as easily. Stupid Green Flu, stupid military, stupid parents thinking it would be a good idea to take a vacation down south just when Z-Day happened.

So yeah, I kinda hate zombies.

It all started a few weeks ago. My parents had thought it would be nice to go on a spontaneous vacation, and myself being a basement dweller of their townhouse, had no choice but to come along. Had I had a job at the time, I could've probably been able to stay home, but I was about as independent as a blob fish, and even saying that was an overstatement. After all, I was only a first year at the local university for Fine Arts, and was thusly still living at home. My parents had peer-pressured me into going with them for their crazy idea of a fun time. I mean honestly, who wants to go vacationing to Southern United States for no reason? Not that I have anything against the United States or southerners, it's just not something that interested me.

So after much whining, I put in the backseat of my dad's land rover (literally, he's 6"2, and I am only 5"5, he just picked me right up off the friggin' ground) and we started our drive from southern Canada to the southern States, something that took _much _longer than I wanted. After spending days and days in the sweltering heat, we finally made it to the city of Savannah, Georgia, where we checked into a hotel, and my parents started to run around the city, taking pictures and, thankfully, leaving me to my own devices in the hotel. I would spend hours at a time just kicking back and relaxing, just minding my own business, usually watching T.V.

That was when I first heard about the spreading infection.

I had been lounging on one of the beds in the hotel room, just flipping through channels, when the news caught my eye. The new reporter was talking about vaccinations for what sounded like some kind of flu. Apparently it had already hit most of the eastern half of the world, and people were dropping like flies. Some were calling the "New Black Plague", while others called it the "Green Flu". Either way, it seemed pretty serious to me, but I tried to push it out of my mind. After all, it had only been in the eastern part of the world, right?

A few more weeks past, and I was beyond bored with that "vacation" of ours. During those last few weeks I had of seeing my life in as much of a normal way as it could've been, the "Green Flu" had spread to the far eastern portion of the States, and was slowly moving west and south towards Georgia. By that point, it was clear that Earth had entered an apocalyptic state. I know that sounds like a bland way of describing everything that happened, but that is really the only way of saying it.

I was forced to watch as people died, lived, and died again; how they grew and shrank, shrieked and cackled, and foamed at the mouth. I saw the nice people at the hotel go rabid, and start to eat their guests, all the while gurgling and howling like crazy people. It was like something out of my favourite zombie shooter games, only it was legit. To add to my problem, both my parents had disappeared, and I was fairly certain that they were either dead or worse: _undead_.

I don't know how I managed to survive the ordeal at the hotel, but I did, and I was able to escape out of Savannah itself and to a small abandoned village on the outskirts. I was now holed up within a small abandoned house, with nothing but an AK-47, some food that was left within the house, and a few convenient pipe bombs and a Molotov that I'd found there. Now I could only do a few things: wait, and survive. This was literally Hell on Earth, and I had to make the best of it.

Look out Apocalypse, I'm awake and I'm alive.

**A/N: Hey all! So, this is the first chapter of something I've thought about writing for a while. I know it's a little short compared to the other first chapters I tend to write, but I am just testing the waters right now, to see how it goes from here -grins-. So yeah, this is just going to be a story about another survivor of the apocalypse, who runs into the survivors of L4D2. EllisxOC, yada yada yada. Cause he's cute n' stuff, and he needs someone who won't make fun of him (not the entire time anyway –wink-). NO HATERS PLEASE, this is just for fun, as are all my other works, and I would love feedback and stuff! :D Not that I hate Zoey or something, I just for some reason don't see her and Ellis being a good couple (just my opinion, I love Zoey, just not with Ellis, so yeah xD). I personally prefer EllisxNick –gigglegiggle-, but that's another story. ANYWAY, I do believe I have rambled enough. Please, enjoy! :D I will submit more soon hopefully, just gotta work tomorrow first haha. ALSO, if anything seems not-canon, PLEASE SAY SO (characters OOC, events, facts, etc.). **


	2. Survivors?

Chapter Two

How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse for Dummies

BANG! The infected gave a half roar, half squeal as its head exploded. The other infected standing nearby it turned slowly, growling low to each other, as their soulless eyes searched for the location of the survivor who just had killed one of them.

BANG! Another infected's head exploded, and the last one standing lurched about, howling in anger, blood dribbling from its open head wound. It trudged around in circles, snarling and whipping its head back and forth. It turned its eyes to a nearby house, and it gave a low growl, before lurching towards the house. It was nearly there when there was a loud screech, and suddenly something large and black hurtled through the air on top of the infected. The now "helpless" monster was shrieking like mad, as the hoodie-clad infected on top of his started to rip out its guts. Blood, bile, and innards flew everywhere as the hoodie-infected tore apart its victim.

From the nearby house I watched in disgust, wincing everytime some intestines flew into the air, and the hoodie-infected gobbled them up like a greedy child. I sighed, and reloaded my AK-47, aiming it through the open window carefully. I took aim at the back of the hoodie-infected's head, and pulled the trigger. The back of its head exploded, and it slumped over its former meal in a bloody heap.

I put down my gun and leaned back against the nearby wall, my heart beating rapidly. I had been here for a few weeks now, three, maybe four? I couldn't remember; all I knew was that I was slowly running out of ammo, and more importantly: food. I shook my head, breathing out slowly, and massaged my temples. I still couldn't believe this was really happened: the Zombie Apocalypse. Back home, all my friends and I would joke about it, saying that if it happened, we'd go all "Shaun of the Dead" on its ass. We'd say things like "I'm either gonna die immediately, or miraculously survive," and as it turns out, I'd been one of those people to say such things. Funny how things work out eh? Meh. Now as I sat here, I realized I had no idea if anyone I knew back home was even still alive. I figured that at least _some_ of my friends were alive, since I knew quite a few who had been literally _convinced_ that there would one day be a Zombie Apocalypse. I guess they'd either survived somewhere, or at least survived for a little while. It still baffled me that I had survived this long, considering I had no experience with anything like this. I'd been god damn lucky to even have been able to figure out how to use a friggin' gun!

I picked up my gun again, and walked out of my shooting room, and into the living room of the house I'd been using as my safe-hold. I put my gun down on the table, and went to grab a bottle of water from the crate that past survivors had left behind. I put it down on the table, and went to look once more out the window of my shooting room. I peeked through the blinds, and saw no immediate infected nearby. This lightened my spirits a bit, and I strode back into the kitchen, sat down at the table, and opened my water bottle. I was about to take a drink from it, when I heard a nearby crash, and a roar. Oh shit.

_Roid-Rage Infected_.

I put the water bottle back down on the table, grabbed my gun and a pipe bomb, and raced back into my shooting room, and opened the blinds just in time to see the massive thing fly by the window, roaring up a storm. I quickly reloaded my gun, and closed up the blinds again, this time running to the front door. I was about to fling it open, when I faltered. I had never faced a Roid-Rage Infected before, was it really a good idea to piss it off? What if I missed? I'd be dead for sure. I had to make up my mind fast. If it went on an angry rampage, it could potentially destroy my safe-hold, and that wasn't good either.

I decided to take my chances, and I flung open the door. It seemed that luck was on my side today. Other than the Roid-Rage Infected, there was no other infected around. I crept around the side of the small house, and peered around the corner. There it was, at the end of the dusty "road", heaving and roaring low in its throat. I swallowed once, and then took a deep breath in, trying to steady the beat of my heart. I held up my AK-47, and proceeded to race around the corner, with a battle-cry.

The Roid-Rage Infected saw me almost immediately, and let out a loud bellow, before charging towards me, its movements like that of a very large gorilla. I stopped running when I was about 50 feet from it, took aim, and—

BANG! The gigantic thing was blown sideways, with a roar of pain and rage. I froze, staring at it, my mouth hanging open, had I shot it. . ?

"SHOOT THE TANK!" Someone suddenly started yelling, and I saw two people come running out from behind one of the other houses, both holding assault rifles and shooting the shit out of the (what had they called it?) oh yeah, the _Tank._ I watched as the two men who had run out at the Tank (one was clad in a ragged white suit, and the other was a tall and large dark skinned man) continued shooting the thing, and it was roaring and flailing like a mofo.

Somewhere to my right, a woman started yelling something about throwing a pipe bomb, and I immediately took this as my chance to run like hell. I whirled around, and was about to run back into my safe house, and let these people deal with my big, roid raging problem, when I ran smack into something. Something caught my elbow, and I looked up into the face of a young man, but he was looking past me.

"Nick, Coach, git outta there! Ro's throwin' a pipe bomb!" The young man then grabbed my arm, and dragged me back behind my safe-hold. "Stay here lil' lady!" He told me, before racing back around the house. I just sat there in stunned silence. There were others? Other had survived? Man, my luck had just really turned around. Or had it? I listened to the sound of the Tank in pain, as it gave one final roar, before I heard a dull _thunk_ as it fell over.

What if these people had only gotten lucky with that thing? What if they were normally about as competent in killing zombies as I was? We'd get killed in a millisecond. I really didn't know if I wanted to risk going along with them, if they even gave me the opportunity.

I was mulling this all around in my brain when I heard the sounds of footsteps coming closer to me. Out of instinct I grabbed my gun, and aimed it in front of myself as protection. Who knows, these people could also be infected. It still stumped me that I hadn't become infected yet to be honest. The four people who had just saved my life came around the corner, and halted when they saw my gun raised, and my hostile expression. I could now get a good look at all of them.

There were three men, and a woman. The woman was clad in blue jeans, and a pink short-sleeved shirt. She had dark skin, and short dark hair which was pulled back in a nice (albeit somewhat messy) up-do. The man next to her was the one in the tarnished white suit. He had lighter skin, green eyes, and short dark hair. His undershirt was light blue, and he wore many rings on his fingers. His expression was about as hostile as mine, and his sharp eyes were untrusting. The man next to him was huge, and I mean it. He was tall, and had a bit of a gut, with dark skin. He wore a purple, yellow-sleeved t-shirt with the letters FHS embroidered on the upper left of it. Unlike the man in white, this man's face was much kinder, and he was regarding me with a look of almost concern.

I now turned my attention to the last person in the group. He didn't look much older than me, this boy. He had a young face, marked with scars, and his skin was slightly tanned. On his head he wore a blue and white baseball cap, and his dirty t-shirt was a faded yellow. He wore a pair of baggy overalls, and a pair of dirty brown work boots. He too had a kind face, and he was grinning down the barrel of my gun with a good-natured look. It was he who spoke first.

"Well hey there, you don't gotta be pointin' no gun at us! We just save yer life!" He had a thick southern drawl, and I regarded him through narrowed eyes.

"Names." Was all I said, while flicking the barrel of my gun at each person. I knew I probably sounded like kind of a bitch, but I didn't really care. I was scared out of my wits, and I didn't feel like becoming some newly infected person's lunch today. It was the woman who spoke first.

"My name is Rochelle, but you can call me Ro if you like." She smiled at me, and I nodded once, turning the gun on the man in white now.

"Nick," he said curtly, his gaze still cold, "now quit pointing that god damn gun at me, will you?"

"Hey boy, be kind. The girl's scared, that's all," said the large man. He had a deep voice, and he now turned to face me. "Everyone back home called me Coach, so I guess you can too, girl." He smiled reassuringly at me, and I felt my worry lessen a little.

Before I could turn my gun on the younger man, he spoke up enthusiastically. "Folks call me Ellis! So ya'll can call me Ellis, or El, but I personally don't like being call El though, sounds kinda girlie. But iffya wanna call me El tha's okay too." He beamed at me, and I was momentarily taken aback by his cheerful attitude. They were all staring at me expectedly now, and I took this as my turn to introduce myself. I stood slowly, brushing my long, black hair out of my face, and staring at them all with my piercing grey eyes.

"My name's Natalie. As you may have all noticed already I'm not from around here. I've been holed up in this house for weeks now," I gestured over my shoulder to the little house behind me. "I have one question: where any of you bitten? Because if you have been I have no problem painting these walls with your brains." I said this all very fast, and they all looked sort of shocked by my hostility.

Nick spoke first. "Well if you're going to be ungrateful, we can just leave you here to die." He started to turn around, but Rochelle grabbed his arm. He scowled at her, and Coach turned and spoke to me now.

"Ain't none of us been bitten girl, you don't have to worry about that. Seems we're all immune to this shit for some reason." I felt a twinge of jealousy when he said that. I'd liked the thought that I'd been one of the only immune people to this disease.

"Okay good, that takes care of that problem," I said slowly. I felt much better now knowing that these people weren't infected, so much that I actually smiled for what felt like the first time in forever. "Do you guys want to come inside? I have some clean water and a few beds, and a bit of food. There's only enough to last a night though if we all stay in there." They four other survivors thanked me (even Nick) and filed past me into the house.

"Damn girl!" Came Ellis's voice from the shooting room, "ya'll got a nice lil' safe house here!"

I smiled slightly, "Thanks. I've been here for a bit, so I've been able to reinforce the place a bit." I walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a few water bottles, filled a pot I found under the stove, and grabbed some instant noodles I'd found in the cupboard. I boiled the water, and made some noodles at the others took their places at the kitchen table. Ellis was chattering away about someone called Keith, and Nick was telling him to shut up, but Ellis just kept on talking. Damn, he could _really_ talk. It was sort of funny, and I just listened as I cooked.

Once I'd finished making food, I sat down and we all ate. As we did, I decided to ask the question that I'd been thinking about for a while now.

"So, you guys can stay the night of course, but what happens tomorrow?"

"We leave of course," said Coach, his mouth full of noodles.

I nodded, "Good luck then. I should probably tell you that those hoodie wearing guys seem to like this place."

Rochelle made a face, "Ugh, I hate Hunters." So that's what they were called.

"Oh you didn't think we'd be leavin' you here, didja?" Ellis asked, grinning at me.

He really was kind of cute. "Well I assumed you guys were full up, you don't really need someone else tagging alone, right?"

"Exactly, which is why we should go now." Nick said in an annoyed voice, to which I threw him a glare.

"Nick, shut it boy," Coach warned him, before turning to me. "Ya'll can't just stay here girl, it ain't safe."

I opened my mouth to reply, but Ellis got there first. "So you're comin' along then, no questions asked." He threw me his good natured grin, and I sighed inwardly.

"Okay, fine."

**A/N: Yay! Chapter two is done! I hope you all like it so far :D I'm sorry if some of the Survivors seemed kinda out of character. I'm still getting the hang of everything. Hehe. So yes, R&R please and thank you! And suggestions, feedback and critique are welcomed! :D Good day!**


	3. Witches and Conversations

Chapter Three

Witches and Conversations

Night had fallen, and everyone had migrated to the rooms I'd shown them. I was now seated in my shooting room, taking first watch shift. We'd alternate every hour or so until morning came, and then we'd all head out, though I was still a little apprehensive.

The moon glowed like a bright, white, circular crystal in the darkening sky. Its light streamed through the blinds of my room, and fell over my already overly white skin. I was leaning against the back wall, my AK-47 resting against my propped up knees, and my head tilting to one side. I absently chewed on my thumbnail, my ears straining to hear any kind of sound that may lead to danger. I heard a thump from upstairs, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. It took me a moment to convince myself that it was only one of the other survivors. A small smile crept over my face.

After I was once again peer-pressured into doing something (in this case it was surviving, which wasn't so bad) the conversation had died down a bit. However, it hadn't been long until I was suddenly being bombarded with questions about my life from Ellis. He asked me where I was from, why I'd been in Savannah, what I liked, how old I was, what was my favourite colour, my favourite food, and so many more things I couldn't even recall. The others had been looking between us, probably expecting me to snap at him for being so curious, or just sit there with a dumb look on my face. However, that hadn't been the case. I had miraculously been able to answer each question without skipping a beat, something that I was shocked I'd been able to do.

"Canada, vacation with my parents, video games and art, twenty, blue, and sushi." I said with a small grin at him. He looked taken aback, but then he grinned back.

"So yer from Canadia then?" I had to suppress a giggle at the way he said _Canadia_ instead of _Canada_.

"Yeah, I know, weird eh? The south was completely random on my parents' part to take a vacation to." We'd made idle chatter for a bit longer, before Ellis launched into one of his stories about his friend Keith again. This prompted Nick to tell him to shut up, Rochelle to scold Nick for being rude, and Coach to tell them all to quit it, and that they should to get some sleep.

I'd immediately shown them where to sleep, and now here I was, leaning against a wall, holding a gun, and hoping no zombies decided to kill me tonight. I didn't think I had much to worry about though, considering everything was pretty much quiet. I think I was even beginning to drift off to sleep.

That was when I heard it; the crying.

It was soft, so that meant it was far away, but it was distinct. The low moans of a young woman in pain, the choked sobs, and the occasional howl of tortured agony. It was a sound that terrified me every time I heard it: The Crying Girl. I knew she was a wandering one too, since I found that they're cries were usually different if they were sitting or shuffling along.

I rose slowly, and peered between the blinds. Turns out I'd been wrong, thinking she was far off. As soon I looked between the blinds, I saw her. She was just down the road, her face buried in her clawed hands, and her platinum blonde head bobbing with each sob that wracked her thin, bony body. With each step, it looked like she would fall apart; her legs were so thin and fragile looking. I felt a twinge of pity arch through me as I watched her wobble along the dusty road. I'd always found the Crying Girls interesting; constantly wondering why they cried all the time, and why they were the way they were. I pitied them, and if they weren't as dangerous as I knew they were, I would've approached one to study it. Then again, I didn't feel like dying anytime soon.

I watched her as she shuffled along, her cries getting ever closing as she did. She was about to pass my safe-hold, when she suddenly halted. My breath hitched as she slowly raised her face from her hands, and looked around. I could hear the low growl she emitted from deep in her throat. I could see her soulless, red eyes glow beneath her thin hair. She bared her teeth, and then looked right in my direction. I knew she couldn't see me, but it still nearly scared me shitless. I stumbled backwards away from the window, blindly reaching for my gun, when I felt myself collide with something behind me. That something was not an object; it was something warm; something _alive_.

I whirled on the spot, about to scream, when I came face to face with Nick. I leaped back in terror, clutching my chest, my eyes probably as big as dinner plates.

"_Jesus fucking Christ Nick!_" I hissed at him, "You damn near gave me a heart attack!" He just looked past me towards the window.

"I heard the Witch outside," he stated, moving past me to close the blinds better. "She can smell us here; that's why she's agitated." He turned back to look at me, his green eyes piercing. "Looks like we'll have to either kill her in the morning, or leave sooner." I thought he was kidding for a second, but when I saw his dead serious expression, I knew he wasn't.

"You're serious, aren't you?" I asked dumbly.

He smirked at me, "Damn right I'm serious. Why don't you go upstairs and sleep huh? Let someone who knows what they're doing worry about the bitch outside." I narrowed my eyes at him, and he turned his back on me.

"So what, are dealing with her in the morning? Why not just leave now?" I heard him chuckle softly.

"Just go upstairs honey, okay?" He said "honey" in a mocking tone, and it made me dislike him even more. I glared at the back of his head, and turned and stalked out of the room, and into the kitchen, where I lay my gun. I then proceeded up the stairs to the bedrooms. I was at the top of the stairs, when the heard the gunshot, and a scream from the street. That was the only scream though, and I knew Nick had killed the Crying Girl. I shook my head in exasperation. Stupid Nick, with his white suit and smug expressions. Grr.

One of the bedroom doors opened, and a very sleepy looking Ellis stuck his head out. "_Ngh…_oh hey Nat, s'goin' on downstairs?" He rubbed his eye and yawned, looking every bit the picture of a tired child. I shook my head, smiling slightly.

"It's just Nick being a douche. He killed a…a witch or whatever you people call them." I passed by him and to the bathroom, where I turned on the tap, and splashed some water that still clung to the sink pipes on my face. I could feel Ellis's gaze on the back of my head, and I turned back to look at him. His eyes were heavy-lidded, and he yawned again.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay Ellis, go back to bed." He nodded dumbly, before turning around and heading back into the room. A few minutes later, I could hear snoring. I laughed to myself; he probably wouldn't remember anything of that conversation in the morning.

_Morning_

The morning dawned bright and early (for once) and I dragged myself from my room and down the stairs to the kitchen. As I passed my shooting room, I could see through the window and out into the street, where the remains of the Crying Girl still sat, and blood was everywhere. I rolled my eyes, and went into the kitchen.

I found everyone sitting around the kitchen table, all they belongings with them, and they looked up as I walked in.

"Mornin' Nat!" Ellis said brightly, and I smiled at him.

"Morning," I replied sleepily, "So, are you guys all set to go? I just gotta grab some stuff if we're heading out now." They nodded, and I went about gathering my things together. I grabbed the backpack I'd brought with me after I'd escaped the hotel, and I threw within in some water bottles, a few shirts that I'd had in there already, two first aid kits, a few bombs, and some instant noodles.

I returned to the kitchen, grabbing my gun and its bullets off the table, along with my pistol that I kept in the cupboard. I put this all in my pack, and turned to smile at the others.

"Okay ready." We left the house as quietly as possible, and crept around back, only running into a few zombies along the way.

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked as we walked. It was surprisingly quiet today, with only a few infected here and there. We hadn't run into any special infected so far, which surprised me, especially the lack of Hunters.

"We're headin' tuh New Orleans," Ellis answered, flashing me a grin. "There's ah military base there, and we're tryin' tuh get there." He looked very happy for someone who was trapped in a world ridden with death and destruction.

We kept walking in silence for a while longer, still not seeing many infected around, which for some reason was starting to worry me. Ellis had started to talk about his friend Keith again; something about how gas is flammable of something.

"…an' he got third degree burns over 95% o' his body! Betcha kin imagine what the doctors thought when they saw burns coverin' scars from _other_ burns! It was real funneh." He kept rambling on, until I finally asked the question that I'm sure everyone was wondering.

"So Ellis, do you like, have a crush on this Keith guy or something? You keep talking about him." This question was met with a roar of laughter from Coach, a loud snicker from Nick, and a giggle from Rochelle. Ellis's ears went bright red, and he started stuttering.

"W-what? No! What do ya take me fer? Some kinda queer?" He was blushing like mad now, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Really? Well your blush says otherwise sir!" He went even redder, and his blue eyes were darting around like those of a scared rabbit.

"I-I got no idea what yer talkin' bout! Keith and I are buddies, nothin' more!" He started walking faster, so he was ahead of us, leaving me behind laughing.

"Ellis! Look dude I'm sorry! Come back here!" I ran after him, while the others continued sniggering. I ran up behind him and caught his arm. He turned and fixed me with an embarrassed look. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "I'm sorry, really. I was just kidding."

He shrugged, "S'okay. I know I talk 'bout 'im a lot. S'just there's really nothin' else tuh talk 'bout." He started to go red again, and I patted him arm sympathetically.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I think they're funny stories." His eyes lit up like those of a child on Christmas.

"Ya really mean it?" I nodded, and he grinned at me. We continued walking for a few minutes in silence, before I turned to him again. "Hey Ellis?"

"Yeh?"

"Do you remember our conversation last night?"

"Huh?" He looked confused.

I chuckled, "Nevermind."

**A/N: Yay! Another chappie done! I know the end was sort of lame, sorry xD So yeah, not much action in this one, but there will be soon! I just gotta figure out how I am going to do the next one… Eh I'll figure it out. But for now I am going to go see the new Harry Potter Movie at Midnight! So I probably won't submit for a few days :D Either way, R&R please! **


	4. Sucker Punch

Chapter Four

Sucker Punch

We continued walking for what felt like forever. We past many ruined houses, and the air smelled like death and rain. Since I'd been cooped up in my little refuge for so long, I'd never really gotten to smell the air outside, and boy, did it smell _awful_. I nearly gagged the first time the smell of a rotting corpse hit my nose.

We trudged along the dusty road for a while longer until we came to what looked like the start of a bayou. I grimaced; bayous had always scared me in old movies, and as well in the 1990's version of "Interview with the Vampire". So yeah, I was not too pleased.

I was about to ask what we were going to do now, when a loud, high-pitched giggle filled the air. Oh crap.

"Little guy!" Nick yelled, as a Jockey flew through the air, landing on Ellis's back, and the young man started screaming.

I whirled around, aiming my AK-47 at the little bastard that was literally riding on the back of Ellis. "Ellis! Try and stay still!" I yelled at him, trying to aim at the Jockey, who kept turning Ellis around so that the barrel of my gun was pointing at Ellis instead of it.

"Easy fer you tuh say!" He hollered, trying to rip the giggling monstrosity off his back. "You ain't the one with the Humper on yer back!"

"Shoot the little guy, shoot the little guy!" Nick was yelling as he fired bullets at the Jockey.

I was about to take aim, when the ground began to shake beneath me. I snapped my head up, and saw a Charger; and it was coming right for us.

My eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "Fuck that! SHOOT THE BIG GUY!" I shrieked, pulling the trigger of my AK-47 like a madwoman. The Charger didn't even seem fazed as it ran through my onslaught, roaring and flailing its one massive arm. I knew it would be on me any second, so I only had moments to act.

I quickly turned around and aimed my gun, managing to shoot the Jockey off of Ellis's back, but not killing it; Coach took care of that. Ellis turned to me, grinning. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he pointed behind me, yelling. I realized in horror I had waited too long.

"Nat, LOOK OUT!" Ellis barely had time to scream when I felt something huge slam into me. The wind was knocked out of me, and I think I felt a rib crack. I screamed in pain, and I felt a huge hand grab the front of my shirt, hauling me into the air, and slamming me back down onto it. The wind was knocked out of me again, and instead of screaming I let out a raspy squeal as I was slammed into the ground again. I was dimly aware of yelling all around me, and the sounds of shots exploding through the air.

Suddenly, I was dropped unceremoniously onto the ground, my head swimming. I heard a yell, and loud roars from the Charger, then someone yelling.

"Ellis! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Then everything went black.

_OoOoOoOoO_

"I still can't believe you actually punched a Charger." I said as I was bandaging Ellis's hand. After I had come to, I'd found myself in another safe house, only a few miles from the one that the others had found me in. When I'd asked what had happened, Nick had amusedly informed me that Ellis had punched the Charger until it had dropped me before I'd fainted. I'd found Ellis in the corner nearby, nursing what looked like a broken hand. At first I'd scolded him for being so stupid, but when I saw the look on his face, I caved. I'd found a med kit, and offered to fix up his hand. And now here we were, sitting at a table in the only other room of the safe house, while the others kept watch.

He was smiling sheepishly at me. "Hey, I wanted it tuh know how it felt tuh get punched. 'Sides, it _was_ tryin' tuh kill ya."

I gave him an exasperated look, "Ellis, you're lucky you only potentially broke your hand. That thing could've killed you! What were you thinking?"

He flinched, and then fixed me with a very serious expression that made me nearly giggle. "It was gonna kill ya Natalie."

I sighed, "And thanks to that, _you_ almost died." He pouted, and I rolled my eyes. "'Kay, whatever. We're even, deal? I saved you from the Jockey; you saved me from the Charger. Albeit it was a stupid way to do it…" I muttered the last bit under my breath. He was grinning at me, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"So tell me a little bit about yourself Ellis," I said as I worked. "I mean, I've told you a bit about me, it's only fair, yeah?" I smiled at him.

He looked a little surprised. "O-oh, awright then. Back home in Savannah, I ran an auto shop with a couple o' my buddies. We're also in a band. I play bass." He gave me a proud grin, and I smiled again. "So, I guess I'm whatchu Canadia folks call a mechanic. I love Jimmy Gibbs Jr., the race car driver, 'cause he's like, a God or somethin', an' Ah also love beer. Oh, and I'm twenty-three too, jus' cause you told me yer age."

"So you're in a band? That's pretty cool." I wasn't really putting much effort into talking to him; I'd just asked him questions so that he'd be distracted from the pain in his hand.

He was nodding, "Yeah, I love me some music. Especially the Midnight Riders. They're awesome; best music around in mah opinion. Do you play at all?"

I looked up from my work. "You mean music? Oh yeah, I play piano and flute, and I sing a bit too. I come, well I guess came considering my parents may be dead, from a very musical family. My mom would teach piano lessons, and my dad was in a band too."

"Tha's pretty cool," he said grinning at me, and I smiled. "What else do ya like tuh do?"

I thought about it for a second, "Well, I'm an artist. I was going to University to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts before we came down here. I also love video games too."

His face lit up. "Really? What kind?"

"Ironically: zombies shooters." He stared at me in shock, and I laughed. "I know right? Totally scary." I continued in silence for a few minutes, when I decided to ask the question I'd been wondering for a while. "Hey Ellis? How come you guys were around here anyway? I mean, here near the bayou anyway. I mean, well, I ran from Savannah for a good long time, a few days at least, but you guys just appeared out of nowhere."

"Well, we was tryin' tuh get to New Orleans, like Ah said before. But we went tuh this abandoned theme park called "Whisperin' Oaks" an' we played a rock concert. It was great, ask Nick or somethin'. Anyway, we got rescued, but our pilot was infected, so Nick shot em', an' we crashed into this bayou here. Anyway, we're trying to get somewhere with a radio or somethin', so we can get the hell outta here, and on the way, we found you." He smiled at me again, and I nodded slowly, understanding everything better now.

I finished bandaging his hand, made a makeshift splint for his bruised fingers, and leaned back against the back of my chair. "There, all better. Just be gentle when you do stuff with your hands okay?" I thought I saw a blush creep up his face, but I ignored it.

I patted his shoulder, and stood up. "You sir, are by far the most reckless person I've ever met." He threw me his good-natured grin, and I chuckled. "Or the most insane."

He shrugged and stood up too, "Or maybe I'm just smart?" We both looked at each other, and burst out laughing. We then exited the room, and found the others making idle conversation. They stopped when we came out.

"So you two have finished up in there then?" Nick asked with a smirk, making us both blush.

"Oh shut it Nick," said Ellis, shooting him an annoyed look, and I smiled slightly.

"So, what now?" Rochelle asked as Ellis and I sat down at the table. "We didn't make it that far since we picked you up Natalie; where do we go from here?"

"Ellis told me you guys needed to find a radio or something?" I asked, and they nodded. "Hmm, well why don't we get some rest, and then look around here in the morning? I mean, this place is huge; who knows what we could find." I was trying to be positive, but I could feel the worry generating from everyone else.

Coach spoke up in his deep voice, "Well there ain't no sense in worrying about it now. Like the girl said, let's get some sleep, and we'll figure our shit out in the morning." He stood up, and walked over to one of the sleeping bags that had been left in this safe house. We all took that as our queues to rest, and we shuffled over to our respective sleeping bags. Rochelle and I took the smaller room where I had bandaged Ellis's hand, and just as I was closing the door, Ellis caught my eye, and we shared a small (not to mentioned slightly awkward) smile, before I gently closed the door. I lay down in my sleeping back, staring up at the ceiling, and wondering what tomorrow would bring.

**A/N:** **Yay! Another chapter done! Sorry for the wait guys, but here it is, a little short I know, and I suck at fight scenes. See, I have all these ideas, but not how to fill them in with other scenes xD So yeah, I hope you all enjoyed it! And if I got facts wrong, please let me know! :D**


	5. The Bayou From Hell

Chapter Five

The Bayou from Hell

I was jolted awake sometime during the night. At first I couldn't remember what had happened, or where I was. I looked around for a few seconds, allowing my heart to slow down, as my reality came crashing down on me. It took me a couple of seconds to remember everything: the infection, where I was, my family, and her.

Her; Natalie, our newest survivor.

There was something so…_different_ about her. I mean yeah, everyone else was pretty cool. Rochelle was like the older sister I never had, Coach was a pretty badass dude, and Nick was, well, Nick. But Natalie . . . she was something else. Something about our personalities just seemed to _click_ when I first met her. Sure she seemed a bit hostile at times, but ever since I'd punched that Charger for her, she'd seemed to loosen up a bit. I mean, we talked about what we liked, AND SHE PLAYS VIDEO GAMES AND MUSIC TOO! I swear when she told me that I almost fainted. A girl who looks like that _and_ does stuff like that? That's someone straight outta Heaven right there.

She's real cool too, like how she knows her way around a gun (and damn does she look good with a gun), thanks to her zombie shooter games, and the fact she can _draw_. She'd doodled one of the special infected on some paper we'd found in one of the safe houses, and given it to me after, saying she didn't want it. But _damn!_ That girl can _draw!_ It looked real good too, just like it a Hunter. I'd told her that of course, but she'd just blushed and waved the compliment away, which made me kinda sad to be honest. She really _was_ a good artist!

She's real pretty too, not just talented, but real pretty. Her black hair is _so_ shiny, even if we all haven't cleaned ourselves in a while, and skin was so white and perfect. And then there were her eyes. _Damn_ that girl had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They were a pale grey, like a stormy sky, and they looked blue in some lights. All in all, Nat was perfect; completely and utterly perfect. I don't think I'd ever seen someone so perfect, except maybe Emma Cooper from my high school, but even she looked plain compared to Nat.

God damn.

But did she even notice me? Did she even notice how I looked at her sometimes? Jesus, I'm letting my emotions get the better of me again, aren't I? Goddamn. I need tuh just calm the heck down. All that matters right now is getting outta here alive; I shouldn't even be thinkin' about this!

But . . . I can't stop thinkin' about her.

Well Hell.

_OoOoOoOoO_

My eyelids fluttered open as the sun shone through them, momentarily blinding me. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and looked around. Rochelle was still asleep on the floor next to me in her sleeping bag. I stretched my arms, feeling my muscles burn in protest, and my aching bones crack as revenge. I winced and rubbed my side where the Charger had flung me to the ground. It really hurt, and I was pretty sure I _had_ cracked a rib.

I gingerly lifted my faded blue shirt and looked down at my side. My pale skin had purpled during the night, and the area was very swollen. It was by far the ugliest damn bruise I had ever seen, and I grimaced in pain when I tried to move. Now, being the idiot that I am, I decided to poke it.

That was a mistake, and I paid for it.

I hissed through my teeth and tried not to cry out. You see, 2% percent of people with bruises don't know where they got them, 2% don't even know they have one, and the other 96% percent will poke it and see how much it hurts. I'm one of those people, and I was currently regretting it dearly. I had clearly cracked, or maybe only fractured, a rib. Either way, it fucking _hurt_, and I was _so_ not a happy camper about it. Ha, camper, the irony.

I pulled my shirt down, and slowly got to my feet, trying to move carefully so as to not further hurt myself. I shuffled to the door and opened it as quietly as possible, so I wouldn't wake Rochelle. I exited the room and wandered down the small hall to the entrance way of the safe house. There, I found Nick and Coach who were already awake.

"Morning," I managed, while wincing in pain.

Coach regarded me with mild concern. "Mornin' girl; you look like you cracked a rib, huh?" He walked over to me, "how the hell did you manage tha'?" I felt my face redden a bit.

"I guess it got cracked when that fuckin' Charger attacked me." I said hoarsely, while I gently lifted my shirt just high enough for Coach to take a look at the huge bruise.

He whistled softly, "Damn girl, that's a mighty fine bruise you got right there. You need tuh be careful moving around, understand? Maybe we should stay here longer?" He said the last part more to Nick than to me. The conman looked annoyed.

"No way, we have to keep moving, we can't just stay here! We'll be sitting ducks!" Coach gave him a stern look.

"Listen here boy; she's got a broken rib or somethin', an' she needs tuh just take it easy." The two started to bicker and I immediately intervened.

"Look Coach, I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine."

"See? She's fine. We need to get out of here. 'Sides, if she can't keep up, leave her behind for the Infected. That way they won't come after us." Nick said all this while fixing me with a cool glare, which I returned with an even icier one.

"I swear to God Nick if you keep up with that attitude I'll purposefully get turned into an Infected and come after _you_ as my first victim!" I snarled, and Coach chuckled while Nick looked like he wanted to punch me.

"Now, now children, calm down," said Coach good-naturedly, "We'll stay here for a few more hours and see if we can't find somethin' in a First Aid Kit for Natalie's injury. Then we'll head out," he added when Nick opened his mouth to protest. He shut it and stalked away to the door.

"I'm going to look around," he grabbed a rifle, slamming the door behind him as he left.

_OoOoOoOoO_

As Coach promised, a few hours later we headed out. We'd managed to bandage up my ribs a little with some wrappings and disinfectant we found in the Med Kit. Now all I could do was hobble along and try not to get eaten, and I felt like a huge loser the whole time. I still carried a gun and a crocket mallet I found as protection though, I so I wasn't _totally_ useless. To make matters kind of worse, Ellis wasn't talking to me much. It seemed that after we had talked the night before, things had gotten a little awkward between us. Though I personally didn't feel awkward, he seemed like he did. He would occasionally shoot me a smile, and he had said good morning, but other than that he was unusually quiet. I tried to brush it off as him just being nervous during the zombie apocalypse, but even that seemed unlikely. After all, he _was_ a "badass zombie killer" as he had stated a few days earlier while explaining his awesome tribal arm tattoo to me.

Either way, we had to keep moving regardless. When Nick had gotten back from his petty stalk of pettiness, he had told us that it seemed that the prior locals of the small village we were holed up in had tried to barricade themselves from the Infected. However, they had obviously failed and all the houses around us were abandoned. He had also said that there was a swamp very close to where were too, which was crawling with Infected, as well as "Mud Men", the swamp dwelling Infected. He thought that maybe a few miles from here there might still be a few survivors who holed themselves up. Then again, there could also be no one, and in that case we were slightly more screwed. So anyway, here we were, trekking through this creepy-ass abandoned bayou town towards a safe area that may not even exist.

_Ppplsh!_ My foot sank into an unexpected mud hole as we slowly made our way through the swamp.

"Oh, gross!" I twitched, yanking my foot out, while making a face. Coach gripped my upper elbow, helping me out of my squishy foot prison. I thanked him, and waded through the knee high murky water. I came up next to Ellis, and nudge him in the ribs.

"Hey cowboy," I winked at him, and he as though stung.

"Oh! Hey Nat! Y-yuh scared me a bit." He looked a bit red, and I grinned at him.

"Little nervous are we?" I joked as we continued on.

He looked away quickly, "Naw, not really." We walked in silence for a few minutes, with only the sound of the crickets chirping, and dull slushing of the water as ambience. Finally, I broke the silence.

"So . . ." I began slowly, "how's your hand?"

He looked down at his hand, which was nearly has purple as my side. "It's awright; how's yer side? Coach said yuh got a broken rib from that Charger. Shoulda punched that thing a lil' harder." He grinned down at me, and I laughed.

"Yeah really, and my side hurts like a motherfuckingsonofabitch." I turned to shoot him a grin, when I noticed he was gone. I looked around in surprise. "Ellis?" Where was he? He had been there like, five seconds before I could've sworn! "Ellis!" Where the hell had he gone?

It was then that I heard the _shlick_ of something, or someone, being sucked under the murky water, and a muffled yell mixed with a croaky, hacking cough. I felt my blood run cold.

_Smoker_.

"ELLIS!" I whirled around just in time to see him being dragged away by the long tongue of a Smoker, who's tumorous, mutated face produced smoke with each hacking cough. Its tongue was wrapped around Ellis's torso as he was dragged through the water, his gun falling under and vanishing. I aimed my AK-47 at the hideous thing, and pulled the trigger multiple times, each bullet hitting its target; more or less. Its tongue was shattered, and it dropped Ellis into the water. He surfaced moments later, gasping for air. The Smoker collapsed behind him, dead as a doornail as I waded through the water towards him.

I thrust out my hand and he took it. "Are you okay?" I shrieked over the now insanely loud bayou. Our commotion had startled nearby Infected, and they now were attacking in remorseless waves. Nick, Rochelle and Coach were busy shooting the shit outta them, so I could make sure Ellis was okay without being too worried about dying just yet. I yanked him to his feet as he rubbed his already surely bruising chest.

"M'awright Nat, don' worry 'bout me," he croaked, looking past me towards the oncoming hordes. "Aw _hell_." He rushed past me; yanking the baseball bat he carried with him wherever he went off his back, and smacked a zombie upside the head with it, causing its brains to explode everywhere. Another tried to run past him at me, and he close lined it with the side of the wooden bat, and it fell into the water with a screech.

I aimed my gun at an incoming Infected, whose chest exploded only feet from me, as it crumpled into a floating, bloody heap upon the surface of the bayou's waters. I whirled around to shoot more zombies, all the while trying to ignore the searing pain in my ribs. Suddenly, I felt something grab my ankle, and I only managed to get out a startled half-cry before I was sucked under the disgusting waters of the swamp. I heard what sounded like Nick yell out my name, before I heard nothing at all.

Whatever had my ankle had a _really_ strong grip; it felt like a bar of steal was wrapped around my leg, and was slowly crushing it into oblivion. I writhed and flailed underwater, trying in vain to free myself from my captor. Beneath the murky surface, I heard the watery growl of what I finally figured was a Mud Man. I opened my eyes underwater, and through their stinging fury, I could see it, its yellow eyes glowing dully through the fog of blackened water. It dragged me closer to it, and I felt my heart beat getting faster and faster. _Oh__God,__am__I__going__to__have__a__heart__attack?_ I was so scared I couldn't think; all I could do was kick as hard as I could, while my held breath slowly began to run out. In one final attempt to thwart the fucking mealy bastard, I kicked out with my last ounce of strength, my foot connecting with its ugly, muddy face. I heard it let out a slushy cry, as its steal-like grip finally released my foot. I was left to float there helplessly, trying to find the energy to fight my way back to the surface, which I knew was only a few feet above my head.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed me by my upper arms, and I was yanked out of the water. I sputtered and gasped for air as I was laid down on what felt like a mossy shore. I rolled onto my stomach, and vomited swamp water and bile onto the muddy ground beneath me. When I had wiped my mouth, I looked up to find everyone else lying nearby. They were all soaking wet, and covered in zombie blood and guts, but other than that they looked alright; if not a little shaken. I sat back on my heels and threw my gun into the nasty, blood covered ground.

"I fucking _hate_ swamps. Bloody bayou from _hell!_"

**A/N: OMG HEY GUYS! It's been a WHILE hasn't it? Sorry for not updating for so long! I recently got back into Left 4 Dead 2, and thusly I have gotten a spurt of creativity to continue this story! Today was a lucky day that I actually quit playing the stupid thing to actually write this fanfic xD So yeah, I hope to update again soon, but I am sorry if I don't! However, this story is NOT on Hiatus, so worry not to any loyal readers! Thanks! R&R! :) Also sorry for any wrong facts and grammar errors if there are any, I am really tired. Though that is never an excuse for bad grammar! –is Grammar Nazi- **


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